


Mall Chase

by Salty_Angel



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Homesick Lance (Voltron), M/M, Shiro and allura are tired space parents, based off the episode space mall, keith doesn't know how to comfort for shit, pidge and hunk team up to annoy klance, starts as crack but just kidding it's angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-09-28 10:26:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 9,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10092239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salty_Angel/pseuds/Salty_Angel
Summary: The paladins are in need of self care products found only on Earth. They agree that there's a chance a certain store in the mall could have them but Shiro and Allura are the only ones that can go back there. The two get lost in the mall while things get chaotic back at the castle.





	1. Personal Hygiene

“Ew, Keith, no offense buddy but you reek! Like P-U!”

Lance made a dramatic gesture to emphasize his disgust, pinching his nose and waving his hand at Keith, who was sitting next to him at the table. “That can’t be right, I showered last night, maybe its you” Keith replied, furrowing his brow. “Nuh-uh, I smell like peaches” Lance shot back, pretending to be offended. “Yeah,” laughed Keith “rotten peaches.” Lance put his hand on his chest, acting hurt. “How dare-” Pidge interrupted finally, tired of Keith and Lance’s bullshit for the 1573rd time “You both stink! In fact we all do! There’s no deodorant or stuff like that in this castle. Just some fancy altean shampoo & conditioner that probably doesn’t even work 100% with us” 

This response had triggered some confused looks from Allura and Coran. The princess blinked a few times before speaking up “My apologies, but what exactly is deodorant?” Hunk finished chewing and swallowing the food in his mouth before gladly giving an answer. “It’s something humans need to stop us from smelling since we’re so sweaty and gross. As a matter of fact.., there’s a lot of self-care products that we humans need, but don’t have with us on this castle.” Coran looked a little disgusted “Ew, that sounds almost worst than the slipperies, at least that doesnt smell” Coran shivered uncomfortably. “But maybe we can find a place to find these products for you paladins, because now that you mention it i think i can smell your disgusting human traits” Coran shoveled a spoonful of food goo into his mouth, hoping it’s taste can dispose of the new found smell.

Shiro spoke next “Coran has a point, self-care is important so I think we should–” Lance interrupted, jumping from his seat, loud and excited with a hand waving in the air for attention. “OO! OO! I KNOW A PLACE!” Keith grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back so Lance was now back in his chair, Lance was about to yell at Keith for doing so before Keith interrupted “Oh yeah? Where?”

Despite how much Lance wanted to fight with him, he was too excited about his idea. “There was this Earth store in the space mall, the one me and Pidge got Kaltenecker from, maybe they have some cleaning products there” Pidge’s eyes sparked in memory. She responded contented that they found a conclusion to team voltron’s B.O problem. “Oh yeah! I bet they do!”

Hunk had a short flashback of the mall cafeteria and despite how excited Lance was about the idea, he decided to remind them of something “In case you forgot, pal, we’re practically banned from there.” Lance pouted and sat back, remembering the encounter with who he likes to call “Space Paul Blart”. Lance was hoping to visit the nostalgic shop again.

Shiro sighed “If we don’t find some cleaning stuff soon we might kill Coran over there” He pointed to the altean who was drowning out the smells around him with food. “Don’t look at me,” He shot back. “you humans are the one who stink!”

Allura was distant from the conversation around her, she had been ever since the mention of the mall. She was thinking back on how Lance asked her if she wanted something shiny. Despite how much she hated Lance’s flirting, she still loved the idea of interacting with the shop owners, window shopping, buying herself something nice. She was secretly still upset about not getting to go.

That’s when the idea hit her.  
“Wait! I wasn’t banned from the mall! Maybe i can go buy the ‘deodorant’!” Although she struggled a little saying deodorant, she spoke excitedly, pushing herself up from her seat. Her eyes sparkled with determination. “I’m thsorrwy Allu-a,” Coran spoke with his mouth full, swallowing the goo before continuing. “I’m afraid we can’t let you go down to there, especially by yourself, me and the paladins experience there wasn’t quite fun I’ll tell ya.” Damn. He was right.

She was about to lean back into her chair to pout a little before Shiro saved her “I could go with the princess. We’ll only be in and out of that Earth shop and be back before anything bad happens.” Allura smiled widely and probably would’ve hugged him if he wasn’t on the other side of the table. “Really!?” Shiro nodded in response, the gesture equipped with a warm smile, and looked back at Coran.

Coran was thinking about whether the idea was good or not when another wave of B.O hit his nose, pushing him off the edge. “Alright fine! But you can’t be in there for too long. Don’t think I’ll be able to fend off this stench any longer!” Lance smiled cockily at Coran “Don’t overreact so much big guy, can’t be that bad!”

Coran got up and left the table, deciding to eat the rest of his food in his room. Locking the door.


	2. To the Mall!

“Remember Allura, tou are only tere for teh care productsth” Coran reminded her, for the millionth time. He spoke with a stuffed voice because of the nose pin pinching his nose. Allura just rolled her eyes. “I know Coran, do not need to remind me again.” Coran blushed a little, only now realizing how many times he’s said it. “Alright princessth, be tafe.” “I will Coran.” She waved goodbye to him and the paladins before climbing into the black lion’s jaws. She got up to the cockpit and she saw Shiro pressing buttons here and there on the control panel. “Ready for take off, princess?” He asked, looking back at Allura. Allura just nodded with a hum while she braced for lift off by holding onto the back of his seat. With the press of a few more buttons the black lion jumped into space with the mall in sight.

She was excited, no doubt, about getting to go to a crowded place like a mall. Last time she was anywhere public was when she had to go to the Balmera for a crystal. But there were only a few balmerians there with her and wasn’t quite social, unlike the time they opened their castle to the arusians. However, that event ended terribly. But she knew this was going to be the greatest time she’s ever had in public, not one that ended in disaster.

“You sure look happy, princess.” She looked down to see Shiro looking up. Her smile was still huge from thinking of the mall. “Oh I am absolutely ecstatic! It’s been so long since I’ve been in public! I wonder how many stores they have, or how many people will be there or-” Her questions would’ve probably went on for eternity, and hell Shiro would’ve been happy to listen, if Shiro didn’t have interrupt.

“We’re here” He stated gladly, happy that Allura was enjoying this shopping trip, even though they weren’t even inside yet. Allura looked back up to see that they were in fact, in front of the mall. She didn’t wait a minute longer to stand up straight and head down to the lion’s jaw, running a little. Shiro just chuckled silently to himself, happy to see how happy she was about this, and pressed a few buttons before heading down to meet her in the jaws of the black lion.

Allura waited patiently for the jaws to open fully before walking down onto the ground. She could see aliens from all over the universe entering and exiting the mall. Following Shiro’s lead into the mall, her eyes darted side to side, observing her surroundings. Allura walked straight, not focusing on where she was going, until she accidently walked into Shiro who had stopped.

“Ah! My apologies Shiro.” She magaged to stutter out “No need to apologize, princess.” He waved his hand dismissively, shaking it off, and looked back to what he stopped in front of, which was a directory. “Did Lance mention where the store was?”

Allura’s smile faded. “No, he did not…”


	3. Spacetime

“Shiro is calling already?” Pidge looked down at the device confused. The device she held was something she made herself. It served as a communications device that allowed them to see the person they communicated with, or as Lance calls it, “"SpaceTime”. Coran and the other paladins gathered around as Pidge answered the call. “You’ve been gone for a few ticks, what’s happened?” Pidge asked. “Nothing is wrong Pidge” Shiro reassured “we just need some directions to the shop” Pidge thought for a few ticks before shrugging and turning to Lance. “Do you remember?"Pidge questioned. Lance simply beamed. "Yeah, I do! It’s on the second level, pass the bathrooms, turn left at the fountain, or no maybe right, anyways just keep going till you see a shop with lettering that looks like "TERRA”, then you’ve found it!“ "Thanks Lance” Shiro sighed in relief “Be back soon” He waved bye to the camera awkwardly before hanging up. Allura was looking at the closest shop’s windows, which was a dress store. Although the clothing it self was made for aliens that poorly resembled her shape, she still thought they looked nice.

“Princess?” She turned around to see Shiro stuffing the spacetime into his pocket. “Did you get the directions?” She asked. Shiro just nodded and made a gesture for her to follow him. They walked past a fountain (which Allura may or may not have stopped for a few ticks at) and climbed onto an escalator. Shiro lead them down the hall of shops, occasionally stopping to let Allura stare in awe at shop windows, up until he stopped at the fountain to try and recall which way Lance said. “Shiro? Is everything alright?” Allura asked with concern. “Yeah, just recalling what Lance said” He made up his mind shortly after “This way” He told Allura while turning to the left.

They went on for a while until eventually Alurra said “We’re going the right way, right?” “Positively” He told her, unsure. They kept going until they came across a directory. Shiro decided to check it to make sure Lance’s directions were correct. He looked at the alien lettering ,although he couldn’t read it, and identified the “TERRA” shop. “Well,” Shiro started before turning to Allura. However, Allura finished the sentence for him. “Lance didn’t give us right directions?” “Hit the nail on the head. But we could probably go this way then turn left here, but we may be here for longer than we expected.” That made Alura happier than she already was. “Not a problem!” Allura said before grabbing Shiro absent mindedly by the hand and walking down the hall. Shiro was shocked, nonetheless, that Allura just grabbed his hand, even though she didnt really notice. He decicded not to point it out. “Now let’s go!” Allura beamed “Uh… princess?” Shiro looked down at her. “Yes?” She looked back up. “Wrong way.” He pointed behind them. Allura turned around and dragged Shiro with her, repeating herself “Now let’s go!”


	4. Levels

“What’s taking those two so long?“ Keith was leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. Also known as his emo stance. “Beats me,” Lance shrugged “maybe they decided to turn their little shopping trip into a date?” Lance smirked. Keith chuckled. “Wouldn’t be surprised. To be honest those two aren’t the most subtle people.” Lance and Keith laughed softly, almost in sync. Pidge just smiled and looked at the two being dorks. “Neither are you guys.” She said with an evil grin. Lance and Keith looked at her confused at first, then instantly became flustered once they had realized what she meant. “Excuse you!” Lance said with a slightly raised, cracking voice. “He’s my rival, there’s no way in hell that’d ever happen!” Keith just nodded along with what Lance said, making eye contact with no one. “Sure bud.” Pidge shrugged. “Whatever helps ya sleep at night.” She winked at them then turned and walked away, leaving the red and blue dorks flustered messes.

“I-I’m gonna go… uh.. train.” Lance stuttered with fake confidence. He marched away in the opposite direction. Keith didn’t bother telling him the training room was the other way. Keith could already tell that he wouldn’t be able to string together a proper sentence. Not with his mind having an all-out brawl with itself. Instead he decided to march of to the training room himself, convinced that Lance wasn’t actually going there. Keith picked the highest level he found easy. He didn’t want to try and challenge himself today, he just needed to calm his brain by distracting it with a simple fight.

Keith, now wearing his paladin armor and a ponytail, watched his third gladiator bot fall down into pieces and desinerate into a bunch of code. After the robot was to small to be visible he was about to call out to the room for the next robot. However, he’s interrupted by the room’s door sliding open. Turning around he sees Lance in his paladin armor. “The hell you doing here?” Lance asked, as if it wasn’t obvious. “Training, what else? Why are you here?” Keith’s distraction for his brain appeared to work since he formed a full sentence effortlessly. “Same as you, dumbass.” Lance walked into the room with the door closing behind him, stretching his arms to exaggerate that he was going to train.

“Your kidding? You never train without someone telling you to.” Keith turned his body to Lance and got into his emo stance. “Sure I do! You just never pay attention to shit.” Lance walked into the middle of the room, next to Keith. “Now call us some robots.” Lance took out his bayard, which almost immediately transformed into his energy rifle. Keith sighed, still a little to embarrassed to argue and called for two gladiator bots while drawing his bayard, which immediately became his sword. The two robots are built up from code and run at the two paladins. Keith runs at one while Lance is stepping back from his bot, trying to get a clear shot.

Keith has a sword fight with the gladiator bot that sorta feels like fencing, almost as easy as fencing as well. Lance has a little more trouble trying to land a hit on his. “What level did you put these bots on?” Lance asks while firing a shot at the robot, which manages to run from the line of shot and keep charging. “10. Why? Is it too hard for you?” Keith yells back, stabbing his bayard through his opponent. “What, pfft, no!” Lance chuckles nervously, missing a shot again. “I-I’m just checking to see what level they were at is all!” He runs backwards a little further when the robot takes a swing at him. He aims again, landing a shot on the robot’s sword wielding arm. Since it counted as defeat the robot spontaneously fell into pieces then code. “You sure? I can take it down a notch if you want?” Keith asked.

“No, I’ll be fine, don’t get your ponytail tied up in a knot! Besides i think it’s about time i tried at some harder levels.” Lance responds quickly. Keith raises an eyebrow and puts his bayard aside. “What level do you usually train at?” Keith turned to Lance who was looking at the ceiling. “Like… 6?” Lance confesses, avoiding eye contact. “That’s it. I’ll turn down the level” Keith stated, turning to the panel. “What! No! Im not letting you get ahead of me that easily.” Lance retaliated while running up to Keith at the panel. “Lance, you can’t skip 4 levels. You defeated that gladiator by a hair and i doubt you can pull it off again.”

“Can you at least do 8 maybe?” Lance asked. Keith shook his head “I’m setting it to 7, whether you like it or not.” “C'mon man, don’t do this, I can handle 10 just fine.” “Too late.” Keith pressed a button and two gladiator robots spawned in the room. Keith ran to one while Lance gave in with a sigh, pulling out his energy rifle and firing it at a robot. They went on like this for awhile. Lance trying to convince Keith to bring it back up to 10 and Keith ignoring him while he spawned in two more robots.

Walking out if the training room Keith was untying his ponytail and Lance was taking of the gloves of his armor. “Next time, i pick the level.” Lance said with an exasperated breath, tired from training. “Not a chance.” Keith responded, now taking off his gloves. Lance was going to complain before Hunk spoke up, Lance and Keith not realizing he was there in the first place. “You two argue like an old married couple” Hunk laughed. Lance and Keith blushed, Lance again being the only one to speak of the two. “N-Not you too!” Lance exclaimed. Hunk walked into the training room behind the two dorks, chickling. “What can I say? You two make it too obvious to ignore.” Lance was either extremely embarrassed or extremely enraged, Keith couldn’t tell. “That’s not true, neither is us or-or” What ever Lance was going to say he lost and Hunk smiled and winked the same way Pidge had done before as the door closed. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Hunk and Pidge were in on this together! Lance and Keith groaned in defeat knowing that because Allura and Shiro weren’t here to keep them in line and the other person worthy to keep them from falling into anarchy was staying far away as possible equipped with a nose pin, Hunk and Pidge could bother them for as long as they wanted. Lance and Keith make accidental eye contact, look away as fast as possible, blush harder, and storm off in different directions. Not even thinking about where to go this time.


	5. Urban Galaxy

Allura followed Shiro around the mall, not as excited as she was earlier. Which was probably because she had seen all of these stores five times each. “Shiro, we’ve been walking around in circles, should we ask for directions?” Shiro stopped walking to turn and talk to Allura. “Yeah, I guess we should. Let’s try that store.” His hand pointed to a large clothing shop titled “Urban Galaxy”. The clothing was mostly women’s with a small selection if men’s apparel and probably too casual for an altean princess, but she thought the style was absolutely stunning. “Yes, let’s try that store!” She exclaimed while grabbing Shiro’s hand to run into the store with him. Shiro blushed because this was the second time she had subconsciously held his hand today. It was adorable seeing how excited she was about getting to go into the store, Shiro had pointed it out because he knew she’d like it.

Inside there was music playing over the intercom and a long line of people waiting at the till. Shiro explained briefly that he was going to find someone to get directions from and Allura walked over to a line up of clothing. The place had an almost pastel aesthetic and some dark clothing atmosphere all at once, which thrilled Allura. She browsed the are of the store consisting of T-shirts. There were humorous ones like the shirt that read “I speak fluent sarcasm” , only it was in an alien language Allura only barely understood. There were also some for aesthetic like floral or ocean colors.

Shiro walked up to an alien wearing what looked like an employee outfit, hence the nametag. The alien looked like your typical grey alien from some cliche movie back on Earth. They had a grey head and large black eyes. Shiro politely tapped them on the shoulder and they turned around. The alien looked like they had eyeliner on for some reason. “Yes? May I help you?” They asked while hanging up another shirt. “Hi, I was wondering if you knew where i could find Terra?” Shiro asked while observing that the alien also had blush on. “Oh! My cousins owns that shop, heck he even got me this Earth make-up for free! But I’m afraid that its all the way at the other side of the mall.” Shiro groaned in dissapointment. “Do you mind telling me the directions?”

Allura had somehow made her way to the earrings section from the shirts in the five minutes Shiro had left her for. “Allura!” He called to her. She turned her eyes from a pair of earrings to look at him. “Did you get the directions?” She asked while walking over to him. “Good news is yes. Bad news is it’s at the other side if the mall. I’m pretty sure we’re going to be gone long enough to get the others worried.” He laughed slightly. Allura beamed. “What’s a few more vargas? We could stop at a few shops on the way there.” She bargained. Shiro just sighed. Yeah the crew back at the castle were going to get worried, especially Coran, but he couldn’t say no to letting Allura explore more shops. “Yeah, I guess letting them worry would'nt be the worst thing in the universe.”


	6. Chemistry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> P.s if you have trouble reading Coran’s lines just remember I put “th” after every “s ” and sometimes “c”. Probably not the most accurate way of doing so but I’m in a room with sleeping people in it so I doubt talking out loud, pinching my nose, is a good idea.

“Thisth isth literally the worstht thing in the universthe!” Coran exclaimed in his unnatural sounding voice, since he refused to take off the nose pin. “It sthtinksth like hell in thisth casthtle becausthe of your human ordorsth and Allura and Sthhiro have been gone for vargasth!” He continued to complain. Lance rolled his eyes and spoke “C'mon Coran. Im sure Allura and Shiro are okay, just taking a few extra hours for some romantic mall date” Okay. Lance knew that wasn’t the greatest thing to try and reassure Coran, a protective father figure to Allura, with but it was hilarious to watch his face turn to dissapointment. “That'sth it! Im sthtaying in my room until they return with the deodorant and other sthuff!” He turned away and stormed off into his room.

Keith was lying down on one of the couches, staring at the ceiling. Lance was sitting on a different couch, thinking about the time they’d spent training. He knew that they were both training to try and forget what Pidge said, but why was it so important? Why didn’t he just shrug it off as a joke like all the other times people had teased him about his love life. He’d always play along trying to piss off the jokers poking fun but today he had just stopped. It made no sense, about as sensible that Pidge would even suggest such a relationship. Himself, the calm and handsome Sharpshooter, with Keith, the edgy and hotheaded mullet-head. The hell kind of chemistry did they have? They were strictly rivals no matter how compatible they were! If they were even compatible! Like, who would go out with a talented swordsman who looks out for you? Not this guy!

“What are you looking at?” Keith asked out of the blue. Shit. “N-Nothing!” Lance turned his head to look at… the wall. Yeah. “Just looking at the wall….” shit why’d he say that? “Oh really?” Keith raised an eyebrow. “Y-yes!” He exclaimed a little to loudly. Why the fuck was he stuttering? This is a mess. Keith had made no respsonse. Like, he saw Lance staring at him blankly so either he was absent mindedly staring into space at his direction or checking him out. Either way he didn’t want to press on the matter. This whole thing was already embarrassing enough with Hunk and Pidge around every corner with ‘whatever helps ya sleep at night.’ It got a little infuriating. “Whatever.” He layed his head back down. Maybe if he could fall asleep the space parents will be back by the time he wakes up and hopefully this nightmare can end. But Coran had other plans.

“Alright paladinsth!” He called over the intercom. “We’re going down to the mall to pick up Allura and Sthiro because they’re taking too long and i cant sthtand to wait around much longer!” Lance’s blushed disappeared almost instantly and was replaced with a joyful face. He could go see the Terra shop now! He leapt from the couch and ran to the bridge, Keith running close behind to get there quickly.

Lance and Keith got there after everyone else. Pidge was holding the Spacetime, pressing a few buttons, and looked up at the duo. “What took you lovebirds so long?” She teased. Keith and Lance blushed while walking to opposite ends of the room “Shut up and get Spacetime working!” Lance exclaimed, again being to loud. “Alright, alright.” She waved her hand to express shaking it off and then got back to turning on Spacetime. The paladins gathered around while it rang waiting for them to pick up. They never did.

“That’s strange.” Hunk, stating the obvious. Pidge tried again but they didn’t pick up and Coran got up from his chair. “That sthettlesth it! We’re going to take the lionsth to the mall and find them sthincthe they obviousthly got themsthelvesth into trouble!” Lance smiled with a cat-like face. “Yes!” He exclaimed while running down the hall already to get to blue. “You can ride with me since i showered earlier today.” Hunk offered Coran. “Thank you Hunk, let'sth hope that makesth you sthmell tolerable”


	7. Thieves

Shiro and Allura had passed many interesting shops on their way to Terra. They had even stopped at a few shops to browse at. There was a bath bomb place, a souvenir shop, book store, and more clothing shops. Allura had enjoyed every minute of each shop, staring at awe at lots of items that hooked her interest. But despite all the time they had spent, they still found no sign of the shop they had been looking for. “How much do you want to bet we’re too late and Coran’s already killed the rest of the team?” Allura joked while examining a book cover at a store called “Episode”. “All the money we have.” He answered with a soft chuckle, which was contagious enough to lift the corners of Allura’s lip slightly into a small smile. “We should be getting close to the shop though” Shiro continued, putting back the book he was looking at. Allura sighed, a little dissapointed that their shopping trip would probably end soon. “Alright, let’s go.” She said as she started walking close behind Shiro to the exit.

They were at the exit when suddenly the two scanners on each side if the door started to beep. Allura and Shiro exchanged confused looks as they saw the mall cop approaching from the distance. Allura cringed a little when she saw the cop was a galra, but decided to stay quiet about. “Halt!” The galra called out, even though Allura and Shiro weren’t moving. He must’ve been the mall cop the others had warned them about, but they did nothing wrong. “What’s the problem officer?” Shiro asked. “What’s the problem! I’ll tell you what’s the problem!” The mall cop started angrily. “You two are stealing something!” Allura and Shiro looked dumbfounded. “There must be a mistake sir” Allura stated. “We’re certainly not wanting to steal anything we just-” Allura stopped talking in sudden realization. The book she had been examining earlier was still in her hand “Oh!” She exclaimed with her face startng to flush with embarrassment. “I must have forgotten to put this back, I’m so terribly sorry” She apologized.

“Oh, I believe you.” The cop replied sarcastically. “Not!” He then exclaimed, as if the sarcastic tone wasn’t enough to convice them he was kidding. “You two are coming with me.” He pointed his finger in a dramatic tone at Allura and Shiro. “Run!” Shiro exclaimed as he grabbed Allura’s hand and started to run. They both knew that even though they were innocent, if another galra back at wherever this galra mall cop would take them were to recognize them they’d be in more trouble than they already were in. Allura threw the book back at the cop, using as both a distraction and a way of not actually stealing a book, before starting to run next to Shiro.

Ring-a-ding

Crap. The two thought simultaneously. That was the ring tone for the spacetime. “We can call them back after we’ve gotten away from this galra.” Allura told Shiro before grabbing his hand so they could take a sharp turn. They ran for  a little longer, even hearing a second ring tone, after losing the mall cop and stopped to rest on a nearby bench. Allura looked at all the stores around them right now when she realized that there was familiar fountain nearby. “Shiro, it appears we’re back where we started.” She said between breathes. Shiro looked at the fountain, and then at the escalator they climbed up in the beginning of the shopping trip. “Appears so.” He replied. He then looked down the way that they hadn’t taken earlier and spotted out some stores the alien from before told him as landmarks in their directions. “Looks like we took a wrong turn, come on Terra should be right down there.” He told Allura before standing up and gesturing to her to follow him. She sighed before getting up to follow him but then she remembered something.

“Let’s call back the others though.” Allura pointed to the spacetime. “Oh! Right.” Shiro said as he reached for the spacetime and pressed some buttons before it began ringing. They waited a few seconds before it started to beep,  meaning that no one picked up. “That’s odd.” Allura whispered while Shiro tried again, still no answer. “We’ll try calling again after we go to Terra.” Shiro said putting the spacetime into his pocket.


	8. Race

“Nope, Nuh-uh no way.” Coran stated angrily, storming out from the yellow lion and putting his nose plug back on. “D’aw, what’s the matter big guy?” Lance asked with faux sincerity. Coran gave a long groan before giving the blue paladin a response. “The lionth reek of your human hormoneth and I won’t thtand for it! I’ll jutht thtand by in the castle ath backup. Bethideth, thomeone’th hath to watch over it.” “Your loss. The space mall is pretty cool.” Hunk shrugged before turning back and walking into his lion. Lance nodded in agreement and turned to his lion and walked into it’s jaws. As Lance settled into his seat he equipped his helmet and was immediately greeted with Keith’s voice. “Let’s go. See ya guys there.” Lance could see the red lion stand up straight before running off from the castle and jumping into space. “Not if I get there first!” Lance declared as he got Blue into gear and followed Red into space, almost full speed. “Hey, wait up!” Pidge called into the COM and pretty soon the green lion charged after the first two. “Son of a-” Hunk cursed softly before chasing after the other lions.

The pride of robotic lions raced each other to the mall and Keith and Lance were the first to land. “Aha! I win!” Lance cheered victoriously. Keith rolled his eyes and counted on his fingers as he spoke. “One, we weren’t racing in the first place and two, bullshit I fucking won.” Lance scowled quietly before walking out from his lion. “Oh, that is so not true, I beat you fair and square.” Keith thought rolling his eyes again was stupid but could find no other gesture to express how fucking childish Lance was being. “It is 100% true, dumbass.” Keith retaliated while climbing out from his lion. Pidge groaned over the intercom. “Oh, would you two just shut up already!” The red and blue paladins jumped a little tom the sudden voice interrupting their agruement. The green lion landed in the parking lot alongside the blue one as the yellow lion landed shortly after. After Lance and Keith waited for the other two to emerge from their lions, while exchanging glances of hate, they stood outside the entrance of the mall.

“Alright we go in, pickup the two lovebirds and healthcare shit, then get out before the mall cop sees us, deal?” Pidge explained. “But Pidge,” Hunk said with an evil snicker, “Keith and Lance are right here.” The realization of what Hunk just said dawns over Keith and Lance as Pidge laughs a little. “Hunk, buddy, pal.” Lance says as he wraps his arm around his friends shoulder. Hunk gulps from fear but he’s still laughing. “Yeah Lance?” He asks between giggles. “Shut the fuck up.” Lance said while giving his friend a face that said ‘No mercy.’ Keith couldn’t help but laugh. He was laughing because A) Lance failed at being intimidating and B) he wanted to make it seem that the blood rushing to his cheeks was because he was laughing. Pidge put her face in her palm for a few seconds before looking back up to the dorks that stood in front of her. “Can you guys stop being stupid for two seconds while we save the space parents?”

After walking into the mall Pidge turns to her gang. “Well split up into two teams once we reach the fountain since Lance can’t pick which way was the way to Terra. I’ll go with Hunk “No fair,” Lance complained, “why do you get Hunk and I get Keith?!” Keith crossed his arms in annoyance. “Because Hunk’s the most tolerable.” Pidge responded with apathy. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Hunk pointed out. “Alright but I get to choose which way me and Keith go, c’mon we’re going right!” Lance said gesturing Keith to follow him. Keith simply sighed as he turned to follow Lance. Pidge and Hunk shrugged, giggled, and went left.

Earlier that evening Coran sighed and removed the nose pin from his nose just after he saw the last lion leave the hangar. He makes his way up to the cockpit where he notices Pidge had left the Spacetime in there. There were two missed calls.


	9. Terra

Allura and Shiro were talking about others on their team, Pidge’s smarts, Hunk’s cooking, and other topics when they found themselves standing in front of a colorful store called “Terra”. Allura interrupted her own talk of how much Lance and Keith’s teamwork have gotten better to sigh in relief. Shiro chuckled at her loss of focus as she scanned the store. “Look’s like we’re here.” He said, interrupting Allura’s thought. “Oh, Yeah, looks like it!” She spat out, a little red with embarrassment. Allura walked calmly in to the shop but her mind was thrilled to bits. Maybe this store could let her see what Shiro and the other human’s planet looked like.

 

She strolled her way over to a poorly sorted bookshelf. The books were alphabetical but there were coloring books, novel, comics, and other forms of literature all mixed together on the one shelf. She read the titles, backs, and maybe even the first page of some of them. Shiro just smiled seeing how she enjoyed herself and went up to the cashier.

 

The cashier looked similar to that off his relative, the same generic alien look but instead of wearing heavy make-up he wore pieces of Earth clothing, each titled with different brands. “Excuse me,” Shiro started, grabbing the worker’s attention. “Do you happen to have any health care products for humans?” Shiro asked. “Over there.” The alien answered as he pointed to a shelf near where Allura was. The shelf was mix-matched with different gooey products like fake vomit or puddy, including some well needed products.

 

Shiro sighed, happy that the store even had the products in the first place. He gave a small thank you to the cashier before making his way over to the shelf. Allura finished reading the back of a book called ‘The Outsiders’ before turning to Shiro. “Are those the products?” She asked looking down at the items Shiro was eyeing. “Yeah…” His words trailed back into his thoughts as he started to pick out some things like conditioner and deodorant.

 

Allura went back to browsing some other shelves when a poster on the wall caught her eye. It was a large map with everything listed. From states and provinces to ocean names. “Hey, Shiro?” Allura said, not looking away from the map but already knowing she had gotten his attention. “Yeah, princess?” Shiro said while walking over to her with an arm full of containers. “First of all, let me carry some of that stuff.” She said, grabbing some things from Shiro’s arms before he could argue. “Second off all, where do you live on Earth?” She said, hinting towards the map. “Oh, here.” He said as his finger pointed to a state in America.

 

Before Allura can speak a very familiar sound came from Shiro’s pocket. Shiro placed some products onto a nearby shelf before reaching for the Spacetime and answering. Allura went to look over Shiro’s shoulder as the picture of Coran loaded. “Shiro! Allura! Is everything alright? You weren’t answering earlier.” Coran’s worried voice sounded through the device. “Everything’s alright, just got in trouble with security.” Allura said, causing Coran’s worried look to return. “BUT! Everything’s alright now, we’ve got the products and are heading back now, how’s the rest of the team?” Shiro spat out, worried for Coran’s worry. “About that…” Coran said letting his voice fade away.

 

“What happened?” Allura said with apathy in her voice. “Well. We all got worried that you guys were in trouble so the paladins got in their lions to get you guys. Looks like your okay now but we don’t have a way to reach them because they left the Spacetime here.” Shiro and Allura groaned before Shiro spoke up. “We’ll round them up, don’t worry Coran.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was going to be a little thing where Allura couldn't read Earth writing but then I thought, 'Nah, if she can speak it she can read it.'


	10. Knife To See You

Keith could recognize this area of the mall. So, Lance put them in the right direction after all. Shocking. Lance was walking a little bit in front of Keith, keeping his eye out for ‘Terra.’ He had a small smile on his lips as he was losing himself in thought. Keith was no mind reader but he could tell how happy Lance was because of the twinkle in his blue eyes and the small curl of his soft lips- stop it, that’s enough thinking for today and maybe even for the rest of your life! Keith shook his head from his own thoughts before looking back up to the previously happy boy who now wore a frown.  
“Lance?”  
Lance blinked before looking back at Keith, who noticed his change in expression. “Everything alright?” Keith asked with a confused face, holding back his concern. Lance put a smile back on before cocking an eyebrow. “Yeah, why? You worried about me?” Lance said with a tease in his voice. Because if you shrug off problems and replace them with making the guy you’re with flustered then the problems are gone, right? Keith looked away quickly starting to stammer. “WH-What, no! It-it’s just-” Keith stopped mid-rambling when his eyes fell upon a familiar stand. The stand had a crowd gathered around it by an alien's speech of advertisement  
The owner of the small stand was yelling stuff about cutting rocks and some sort of alien fruit easily. “Shit…” Keith muttered beneath his breath. “What’s the matter, Keith?” Lance asked, following Keith’s gaze to a knife shop. The people once captivated by the man’s speech grew bored and left the crowd around it one by one to go find more shops, leaving the shop owner a clear path to spot Keith. “Hey! Thief!” The man yelled at Keith’s direction. Keith stiffened realizing he was spotted. Lance just looked at Keith confused? Keith? A thief?  
Keith sighed, annoyed. So not only was the knife seller keeping up that charade but one of his four arms reached under the table. “Time to go!” Keith exclaimed as he grabbed Lance’s arm and pulled him along. “Keith! The hell did you do!?” Lance exclaimed as he started to follow Keith, who still had a grip on his arm. “No time to explain why but that guy just called security!” Keith yelled. Lance wanted to ask who, what, when, why, and all sorts of things but now probably wasn’t the time since, hey look who it is! Mister Blart himself, fuckin’ chasing after him and Keith on his Segway. Lance just sighed as he and Keith ran like hell. “Stop! Pirates!” Well would you look at that! Paul remembered who they were, how sweet.  
Keith took sharp turns around every corner as they ran. The sounds of the hovering Segway growing quiet as they increased their distance from it. Sooner or later Keith pulled Lance into a nearby bathroom marked by a blue alien head, panting slightly from the chase. The small bathroom was lined with different toilets built for various alien species and was empty of people. “Keith, the hell happened! What did you steal?” Lance asked breathlessly. Keith just shushed him to be quiet as they heard the Segway sounds grow louder and then quieter, telling the duo that the galra mall cop has passed them. Keith sighed before looking up at Lance.  
“I never stole anything. Look. Last time we were here I showed that guy my blade to see if he could tell me anything.” Keith paused, expecting a comment from Lance. Lance was to invested in listening. “He told me stuff about the craftsmanship of it and asked how much it was for it. I told him that it wasn’t for sale but he kept droning on about wanting to buy it. Eventually he threatened to call security because he thought I stole it and I took it back before leaving.” Keith looked back to Lance after telling his story.  
“Well if you ask me, that guy’s a jackass.” Lance stated casually. Keith chuckled a little before checking out into the main hall of the mall. “Looks like he’s down there at the end of the wing.” Keith told Lance while his gaze fixated on the angry galra who paced around at the end of the hall. Lance just groaned in disappointment. “Is he leaving anytime soon?” Lance sighed out. Keith shook his head no as he watched the mall cop trip over something during his pacing. For now, it was going to just be him and Lance. Trapped in the bathroom… Shit.


	11. Partners In Crime

"Thank you for your purchase!" The cashier told Allura as she slid her altean money to him. Forgien money wasn't a problem for an intergalatic mall. "With every purchase you get a free Kaltenecker." He cheered, offering Allura the cow. Allura waved her hand dismissively. "Sorry, but, I'm afraid we've already got one." The cashier smiled and said that was fine. "C'mon, princess," Shiro caught her attention. "we've got a team to find." He finished, carrying all the bags before Allura came and took a couple of them.

Allura and Shiro exited Terra relieved they had found the health care products, but that brief relief washed away when they both remember they had to round up their friends. "Okay. The team probably split up into two and went seperate ways after reaching that fountain." Shiro started talking while he and Allura found a nearby bench to sit at. "So, that means that two of them will come to us and after that we will find the other two, all while avoiding security." Allura finished for him. Shiro nodded in confirmation.

For a while the two sat in silence, not having any conversation topics on mind, that is, until Allura broke the silence. "How much do you bet that when they seperated, Pidge and Hunk forced Lance and Keith to be on the same team?" Allura asked casually. Shiro smirked. "How much do we have?" He chuckled a bit. Allura smiled softly before something stole her attention from Shiro. There was a sudden movement that made a loud thud because it fell from... is that a Segway?"Uh... Shiro?" Allura nodded her head towards the mall cop, getting off from the ground.

"We need to hide." Shiro said firmly. Allura looked around before her eyes fell on a stray hallway. There was no shops down it and it was thinner than the main hallways. "Follow me." She said as she held onto her bags and Shiro's hand before she started sneaking over to the hall. Shiro followed without question, making sure they stayed out from the galra's sight. After the duo found their way into the hallway they stood up straight and watched the galra from behind the corner. The walls of the hall they hid in were plain in color, lined with strange portraits and the occasional 'employees only' door.

They watched as the mall cop angrily climbed onto his Segway and yelled out some inaudible threats to whoever pissed him off this time. He walked up and down the corrider but he didn't seem to want to leave, he seemed to stubborn. So, Shiro and Allura remained hidden where they were. "Who do you think got his fur in a knot?" Allura asked, sighing and sliding down the wall to sit. "Probably one of the other paladins." Shiro mimicked her actions and landed next to her. "I blame Lance." Allura dead-panned. After a short silence the two laughed as quiet as possible.

The cop didn't spot them but he was still persistant on finding whoever had pissed him off. Shiro and Allura chatted quietly, aware they were a safe distance from him to whisper. Shiro kept an eye on the galra from where they were, waiting for him to leave. "I think this is the first time I've broken the law." Allura whispered. "Really?" Shiro turned his attention away from the mall cop and to Allura's smiling face. "How many laws have you broken?" Allura cocked her eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Stealing candy as a kid probably." Shiro smiled. "Pretty sure Pidge has the largest criminal record out of all of us." Shiro chuckled quietly. "How so?" Allura asked. "Beats me." Shiro shrugged.  
"Hey!" A voice called to the duo.


	12. Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Angst!

__

Keith was observing the mall cop from the doorway of the bathroom, watching as he climbed back onto his Segway. "So, Keith." Lance broke the silence to grab Keith's attention. Keith looked back at Lance, who was sitting on the counter. "Yeah?" Keith said, raising an eyebrow. "That training we did earlier today... I was wondering if we could do that again?" Lance asked, sitting up straighter and looking at Keith with a poker face that Keith couldn't read. But there was still a slight blush. Keith looked back at the galra in the hall, who was stubbornly yelling for the two to come out from hiding, to avoid eye contact. "Why?" Keith ignored the small sense of heat that started in his cheeks. "I... I just wanted to do some more training, y'know, catch up with you guys." Lance choked on the first word. Weird. He's usually so confident. "Catch up?" Keith quoted, looking back a Lance. His emotionless face was replaced with a now more emotional face. All the same Keith still couldn't read it.

"Yeah! I mean.... well, you for example! I just got to level 10 training today! And for you? It's like reviewing addition for you." Lance explained. "I just, don't want to end up as the weakest link..." Lance's thoughts got ahead of him and his words trailed away, wishing he didn't say that. Lance broke eye contact again to look at the mirror next to him. Keith felt helpless while listening to Lance's explanation. The way his voice trailed off on the last words was like witnessing a murder and doing nothing about it. Keith needed to do something about it. "Hey, Lance." Keith started, walking to the counter Lance called a seat and climbing up onto it.

"What's wrong?" Keith asked. "Nothing. It's nothing." Lance was putting a casual face back on. "Don't lie." Keith dead-panned. "I probably shouldn't have tried." Lance dead-panned back, refusing to take off his casual face. "Again, what's wrong?" Keith repeated. Lance sighed and went silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "I... don't want to talk about it." Lance sighed and pulled up ne of his legs from hanging off the edge of the counter to hug it, facing down the hall of oddly shaped stalls. "Are you sure?" Keith said softly, pulling his legs off the edge to criss-cross them. "I think." His voice was was barely above a whisper.

Keith didn't know what to do. This isn't like in the movies where a character has problems and their friend miraculously pull a thoughtful speech out of nowhere, it was more complicated. Keith was at a lost for words. A life of isolation was a safe way to keep you out of siuations like this. But Lance was his teammate, Keith couldn't isolate himself so easily from him or the rest of the team. Hell, just seconds ago they were having a nice time running away from security and now Lance was getting lost in thought. Thoughts that he'd rather escape.

The duo sat there in an uncomfortable silence, neither wanting to say anything. Finally, Keith sighed. "Sure." Keith said in a monotone voice. Lance was surprised that one of them spoke up. "Sure what?" Lance asked. "Sure, we do more of our training sessions, on one condition of course" Keith turned to Lance who looked back. His unreadable expression turned to something more curious. "What condition?" Lance asked, dropping his knee and getting in a more relaxed position. "You don't forget this bonding moment" Keith smirked. Lance chuckled softly before saying quietly between laughs; "Keith, you salty motherfucker." Keith smiled softly at Lance's laughter.

"Hey!" A loud but distant voice called. It was the cop. "Shit..." Keith whispered, thinking they were caught. But to the two's surprise, no cop was at the door. Keith and Lance got up and looked around the corner together, before Lance comidically fell onto Keith. After getting back up quickly and silently they saw the galra go down a side hallway instead of chasing them. "Lucky us." Lance murmured. "Come on, let's go check out Terra" Keith said, gesturing Lance to follow. Lance happily obligies and walks a little faster than he'd like towards the shop. 'Time for nostalgia' was the only thought in Lance's mind.

Alongside other thoughts of confusion, flusteredness, and sadness.


	13. Lost In Thought

"Keith! Come check this out!" Lance called to his friend. "What is it?" Keith asked, walking over to where Lance was looking. "Look! This place has christmas ornaments!" Lance exclaimed before letting out a sudden gasp. "We should totally celebrate christmas on the castle!" Lance said happily. Keith cocked an eyebrow. "Why... would we do that?" Keith asked. "Why not! It's only my favorite holiday ever!" Lance questioned. "Because we're in the middle of a war..." Keith said. "Aww... where's your holiday spirit Keith?" Lance smirked. "It probably isn't even winter on earth right now." Keith stated while he picked up an ornament to examine. It was blue with red dots lining each purple stripe.

"Hey, I wonder what season it is right now, then." Lance said with a cheery voice, but something about it seemed off. Keith looked up from his ornament to look at Lance. Lance was thoughtfully smiling. "Beats me..." Keith's voice trailed off when he noticed Lance wasn't listening, staring right through him. Lost in his thoughts. His thoughts of how earth's seasonal changes were like magic to Lance when he was younger. How the change of seasons was still like magic to Lance today. The way flowers seemed to bloom overnight. The way you'd look outside and see something completely new. Like falling snow or pouring rain. He missed it. When would he get to see it again?

"Lance." Keith said firmly. Lance stopped looking through him to meet his eyes. "Yeah?" Lance asked. "Are you okay?" Keith asked, genuinely worried. Lance was going to call him stupid for thinking of such a thing when he felt something on his cheek. Oh no. "Why wouldn't I be?" Lance questioned, trying to subtly rub the tears off his cheeks. Keith still noticed. "You were crying." Keith said, putting down the ornament in his hand. "Something in my eye." Lance said a little to ethusiastically. "Would that something be a tear?" Keith crossed his arms. "Maybe. I don't know." Lance shrugged and looked away, staring at the ornament Keith had put down.

"Lance, what's wrong?" Keith asked, walking closer and lifting Lance's chin gently so they could make eye contact. Lance stared at Keith's eyes, not knowing what to say. "Lance." Keith said calmingly. "I don't know okay!" Lance said a little too aggressively. Keith looked shocked and lowered his hand. Lance immidiately regretted it. "I- I just... nevermind..." Lance took his eyes away from Keith's and distarcted his eyes with the ornament. Keith sighed. He wanted to stay and help but now probably wasn't the time to do this.

"Excuse me." Keith caught the attention of the cashier. "Have you seen our friends? One tall person with a scar on his face and the other shorter and longer hair?" Keith asked. "Oh!" The cashier exclaimed, remembering. "You mean the young couple that bought all of my earthly health products? They were chased down that hallway by security." The cashier pointed down a hall across the main hallway. Lance snorted, holding back a laugh when the cashier referred to Shiro and Allura as a 'young couple.' Then his expression went to surprised when he heard that those two were the ones chased down by security. 

"Thanks. Come on, Lance!" Keith gestured to Lance to follow him and Lance obligied. When the duo exited the store they ran to the narrow hall and ran down it.


	14. IMPORTANT

I'm low-key isolated from the Internet (getting wifi soon though) so I only recently found out.... the age difference between Shiro and Allura. I've already decided to leave the ship out from voltron holidays but how would you guys feel about me taking it out from Mall Chase. Plz tell me bc I do t want anybody to be uncomfortable.


End file.
